WRAL-TV Totally Explained

Everything about Wral-tv totally explained

WRAL-TV, channel 5, is a television station in Raleigh, North Carolina. It has been owned by the Capitol Broadcasting Company since its inception, and currently serves as the CBS affiliate for the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill-Fayetteville area, known collectively as the Triangle. WRAL-TV has its office and studio facilities in downtown Raleigh, with transmitter located in Auburn, North Carolina.
WRAL-TV is co-owned with radio stations WRAL-FM (101.5 MHz.) and WCMC-FM (99.9 MHz.), and Fox affiliate WRAZ (channel 50). Though most of WRAZ's operational functions are based in Raleigh, the latter has its own facilities in downtown Durham. WRAL-TV is available on cable channel 3 in most of the Triangle, except in outlying areas of the market, where it's available on channel 5. It is also available on cable in large portions of eastern areas of the state.

History

The station's first broadcast was on December 15, 1956 that was an airing of the 1947 movie Miracle on 34th Street. Capitol Broadcasting had won the license in something of an upset over the much larger Durham Life Insurance Company owners of the Triangle's oldest radio station, WPTF. Channel 5 was originally an NBC affiliate. When WNAO-TV went dark in 1959, WRAL shared ABC with WTVD until 1962 when it took the ABC affiliation full-time. This was somewhat unusual for a two-station market and the reason for this is still not clear to this day. ABC wasn't on an equal footing with NBC and CBS, in terms of both ratings and affiliated stations, until the early-1970s. WTVD shoehorned NBC and CBS programming onto its schedule until 1971 when WRDU-TV, which had signed on in 1968, finally got the exclusive NBC affiliation. Ironically, Durham Life bought WRDU in 1978 and changed the calls to WPTF-TV (it is now MyNetworkTV affiliate WRDC-TV, owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group).
   From 1960 until his election to the United States Senate in 1972, Jesse Helms was a regular editorial commentator on WRAL-TV's news broadcasts. In fact, because his politically conservative commentaries became so popular, WRAL began pre-empting the last ten minutes of the ABC evening network newscasts (then anchored by Howard K. Smith and Frank Reynolds or Harry Reasoner), giving Helms a ten-minute nightly program to himself.
   In 1985, WTVD's owner, Capital Cities Communications, purchased ABC, resulting in WTVD becoming an ABC owned and operated station. The CBS affiliation moved to WRAL-TV on August 4, 1985. Within six months of the switch, WRAL had become one of the strongest CBS affiliates in the network's chain.
   A severe ice storm in December of 1989 caused the station's 2,000-foot (610-meter) tower to collapse forcing WRAL off the air. Within hours, channel 5 cut a deal with with then-struggling Fayetteville station WKFT-TV (now WUVC-TV) allowing WRAL to return to the air in only three hours. WKFT ran the entire WRAL schedule during this time. The station's new, stronger tower was launched on October 25, 1990, at which point WKFT reverted to airing its own programming.
   In the early-1990s, WRAL broadcasted its programming via C-Band satellite as part of the Primetime 24 package. That offered network affiliates to viewers in the Caribbean, Latin America and rural areas where local signals were not available. It was replaced in the late-1990s with fellow CBS affiliate WSEE-TV from Erie, Pennsylvania.

Digital television

In June 1996, the Federal Communications Commission awarded WRAL-TV with the first experimental high-definition television license in the United States. The station, known originally as WRAL-HD, began digital television operations on channel 32 less than a month later, on July 9, 1996. The station moved to channel 53 in March 2000.
WRAL-TV stakes claim to have produced the first live sports program in high-definition (on September 6, 1997), as well as the first HD newscast (on October 28, 1998). CBS utilized WRAL-HD in testing its own high-definition programming some time later, and starting in 1999 began providing the station with a regular schedule of primetime programs in HD. WRAL-TV's pioneering efforts in digital television has won wide recognition from within the television industry.
The station's digital channel is multiplexed:

Channel	Programming
5.1 / 53.1	main WRAL-TV/CBS programming
5.2 / 53.2	WRAL NewsChannel

Post-analog shutdown

After the analog television shutdown and digital conversion, which is tentatively scheduled to take place on February 17, 2009, WRAL-TV will move its digital broadcasts to channel 48. However, through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers will display WRAL-TV's virtual channel as 5.

Programming

WRAL airs the entire CBS program schedule as it has since the late-1990s. The only exception involves ACC football and basketball from Raycom Sports. Also, Cupid, a 2003 reality show wasn't aired, as were some controversial shows on sister station WRAZ. WRAL is one of the few CBS affiliates that shows The Young and the Restless from 4 to 5 P.M. as a lead in to their 5 o'clock newscast. Most CBS stations air Y&R from 12:30 to 1:30, but in the case of WRAL, the timeslot switch occurred in January of 1993. This happened because the station's sitcom reruns (the show being run at the time was an hour block of The Golden Girls) were having no luck against The Oprah Winfrey Show on WTVD.
   WRAL has broadcast memorable locally-produced children's programming throughout its storied history. However, its most famous and longest-running is Time for Uncle Paul (1961-1981) starring Paul Montgomery. HE had played various other characters on other local shows before getting his own program. He voluntarily ended his program after station management suggested a change to an educational format.
   Soon after, WRAL continued to produce acclaimed kids' shows with an educational slant including: Frog Hollow, Sparks, and The Androgena Show. Today, WRAL continues to produce quality children's educational programs with such shows as Smart Start Kids and Brain Game.
   WRAL announced on February 1, 2006 that it would begin to simulcast all of its programming on the web to computer users in the Triangle. This signified the latest advance in technology-driven delivery of product by a local television station. A few months later, WRAL was selected to serve as the flagship station for the North Carolina Education Lottery which includes nightly drawings and the twice-a-week national Powerball lottery. On December 3, 2007, WRAL became the first local television station to stream live video to mobile phones. This event coincided with the 48th Annual WRAL tower lighting.

News operation

WRAL has one of the most-watched and most-respected television news organizations in North Carolina winning numerous regional Emmys. The station has been the highest-rated station in the Triangle for most of the time since the 1970s. In 1979, the station became the state's first to begin using a helicopter, known as "Sky 5" for newsgathering. At one point, Charlie Gaddy's 6 P.M. newscast drew a 56 share in the Raleigh / Durham market.
   Until his retirement on July 1, 1994, Gaddy co-anchored newscasts alongside Bobbie Battista, Adele Arakawa (now with KUSA-TV in Denver), Donna Gregory (who now works for NBC), and Pam Saulsby. Today Saulsby, along with current co-anchor David Crabtree (who replaced Gaddy in 1994), chief meteorologist Greg Fishel (who took over for retiring Bob DeBardelaben in 1989), and popular sportcaster Tom Suiter, is a part of the longest-running on-air news team (news, weather, and sports) in the Triangle and one of the longest-running news teams in the state.
   In August of 1998, WRAL began to produce newscasts on WRAZ. That station usually simulcasts local breaking news coverage from WRAL. For national breaking news, WRAZ carries Fox News coverage while WRAL carries CBS News. Otherwise, WRAZ may broadcast CBS programming in case WRAL can't do so as in news-related emergencies. The WRAZ broadcasts include weekday mornings at 7 for two hours and half-hour broadcasts at 10 on weeknights as well as weekends. The newscasts are simulcasted on WRAL's second digital subchannel.
   In 2000, WRAL aired the world's first high definition newscast on October 13. In January of 2001, WRAL converted all of its local news broadcasts to high definition. The WRAZ newscasts are broadcasted in high definition as well. On November 17, 2006, WRAL had a special "reunion" newscast at 6 o'clock with Gaddy, Battista, DeBardelaben, and Suiter reprising their roles once again. This commemorated the station's 50th anniversary. On October 10, 2007, the WRAL sports department launched a sports talk radio station, WCMC-FM (known as 99.9 The Fan). It is now is the only FM sports talk station in the area and broadcasts in high definition. This station was previously known as 99.9 Genuine Country.
   WRAL operates a 24-hour news channel on its second digital subchannel. Known as the WRAL NewsChannel, is is also offered on Time Warner digital cable channel 256. The station airs simulcasts and rebroadcasts of local news that airs on the main WRAL channel. There is also live news provided on the weekdays presented in a cable news channel format. WRAL operates a 24-hour local weather channel on WRAZ's third digital subchannel. Known as the WRAL Weather Center Channel, it can also be seen on Time Warner digital cable channel 252. WRAL's newscasts are simulcast with local weather inserts on another sister station, WILM-LP in Wilmington.

News team

Anchors

Valonda Calloway - weekday mornings
Bill Leslie - weekday mornings and Noon
Lynda Loveland - weekdays at Noon
David Crabtree - weeknights at 5 and 6
Pam Saulsby - weeknights at 5 and 6
Cullen Browder - weeknights at 5:30
- reporter
- Debra Morgan - weeknights at 5:30, 10, 11
Gerald Owens - weeknights at 10 and 11
Renee Chou - weekend mornings
- reporter
Kelcey Carlson - weekend evenings
- reporter
Ken Smith - weekend evenings
- reporter

Meteorologists

Greg Fishel (Certified Broadcast Meteorologist) - Chief seen on weeknights at 5, 6, and 11

Mike Maze (Certified Broadcast Meteorologist) - weeknights at 5:30 and 10

Elizabeth Gardner (Certified Broadcast Meteorologist and NWA Seal of Approval) - weekday mornings and Noon

Mike Moss (Certified Broadcast Meteorologist) - weekend mornings

Chris Thompson (AMS Seal of Approval) - Saturday nights

Kim Deaner (AMS Seal of Approval) - Sunday nights

Nate Johnson (Certified Broadcast Meteorologist and NWA Seal of Approval) - weeknight producer

administrator

Sports

Bob Holliday - Director seen on weekend evenings

Tom Suiter - weeknights at 5:30 and 6

"Football Friday" segment producer

Jeff Gravley - weeknights at 10 and 11

Jason Jennings - sports reporter

Ken Medlin - sports reporter

fill-in sports anchor

Dane Huffman - Sports Managing Editor

Ryan Craig - website sports editor

Brad Simmons - producer

Josh Hailey - sports photographer

sports assistant

Reporters

Brian Shrader - traffic

website

Monica Laliberte - consumer

Dr. Allen Mask - health

Scott Mason - documentary producer

Rick Armstrong

Dan Bowens

Cullen Browder

Mike Charbonneau

Erin Coleman

Kim Dean

Erin Hartness

Sloane Heffernan

Amanda Lamb

Julia Lewis

Christi Lowe

Bruce Mildwurf

Bryan Mims

Beau Minnick

Adam Owens

Notable alumni

Adele Arakawa - former co-anchor (1983-1989, now at KUSA-TV in Denver)

Curt Autry - weekend anchor/reporter (1991-1994, now at WWBT in Richmond)

Jim Axelrod - political reporter (1993-1996, now Chief White House Correspondent, CBS News)

Bobbie Battista - former co-anchor (1976-1981, joined CNN in 1982)

John Bachman - anchor/reporter (2003-2007, now at WSB-TV in Atlanta)

Gilbert Baez - Fayetteville bureau reporter/weather anchor (now at WTVD)

Sam Beard - news anchor during the 1960s and early 1970s(deceased)

Sandra Bookman - weekend anchor/reporter (1985-1989, now at WABC-TV in New York)

Denice Boyer - anchor/reporter (1980's)

Rich Brenner - Sports Anchor (1970's-1982)

Susan Brozek - reporter (1985-1988, now Senior Producer/Local Programming at WPXI-TV in Pittsburgh)

Dale Cardwell - reporter (1985-1991, now at WSB-TV in Atlanta)

Bob Caudle - news and weather anchor/wrestling announcer

Laurie Clowers - morning anchor/reporter (1998-2006, now PR director at Wake Technical Community College)

Ned Colt - (now an NBC News Correspondent)

Paul Crawley - reporter (1976-1978, now at WXIA-TV in Atlanta)

Susan Dahlin - PM Magazine host/entertainment reporter (1980-1998)

Ann Devlin - reporter/anchor (1981-1983)

Bob DeBardelaben - former off-camera announcer and weather anchor (1963-1989)

David Eichorn - reporter (1985-1989)

Bette Elliott - longtime host of women's program Femme Fare (1962-1975, deceased)

Charlie Gaddy - legendary anchorman (1970-1994)

Donna Gregory - originated WRAL's 5:30 p.m. newscast (1988-1995, now with NBC News)

Terri Gruca - reporter (1994-1997), now anchor/reporter at WCCO-TV in Minneapolis

Don Griffin - consumer reporter/weekend anchor (1976-1982, now at WSOC-TV in Charlotte)

Angela Hampton - reporter (1993-1994, now at WTVD)

Jesse Helms - conservative political commentator (1960-1972)

John Hudson - morning/noon anchor (1983-1988, deceased)

Bob Johnston- anchor/reporter (1970's)

Shelley Kofler - reporter (1981-1985)

Lauren Krause - weekend anchor/reporter (1994-2000)

Tom Lawrence - off-camera announcer/technology reporter (1980s through early 2000s)

J.D. Lewis - host of Teenage Frolics and editorialist (1958-1983, deceased)

Todd Lewis - reporter (1996-1999)

Emily Lopez - reporter

Ed McIntyre - anchor/reporter (1970's)

Paul Montgomery - star of Time for Uncle Paul (1956-1981,deceased)

Renee McCoy - former reporter and morning/noon anchor (1982-2002, now does some freelance work in market)

Faith Murphy - reporter (1987-1992)

Joe Oliver - anchor/reporter (1984-1988)

Nick Pond - sports anchor/wrestling announcer(1960s & 1970s)

Ray Reeve - sportscaster(deceased)

Mark Roberts - morning traffic reporter/Host of Brain Game (1990-September 2007)

Stuart Scott (1988-1990, now with ESPN)

Bill Schmidt - meteorologist (1980s)

Glenn Schwartz - meteorologist (now with WCAU-TV in Philadelphia)

Carol Sbarge - reporter (1986-1992, now with WSB-TV in Atlanta)

Rick Sullivan - sports reporter/anchor (1984-1995)

Larry Stogner - reporter (1973-1976, now at WTVD)

Betsy Sykes - weekend anchor/reporter(1990's)

Nina Szlosberg - reporter circa 1980s, now a member of the N.C. Board of Transportation

Fred Taylor - reporter/anchor (1970-2007)

Bob Vernon - 5:30 anchor (1989-1995)

Franc White - host of The Southern Sportsman (1978-1996)

Ray Wilkinson - farm news (1963-1995, deceased)

Dan Wilkinson - son of Ray Wilkinson, farm news (deceased)

Kelly Wright - reporter and weekend anchor (mid-1990s, now with FOX News Channel)Further Information

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